Moving Beyond the Nuts and Bolts

Kathleen Marden

Historically, mainstream UFO investigation has focused primarily upon the collection of evidence (eye witness, radar, photographic, physical trace, psychological, forensic, government archival records, etc.). Anecdotal accounts of ET contact fall somewhat lower on the priority scale in the investigation of events. Yet, there are hundreds of credible reports, many with multiple witnesses by people all over the world, of humanoids in association with landed spacecraft and interaction with humans by non-human entities.

In the past, there was a strong emphasis upon memory retrieval through hypnosis for evidence collection. But today it is considered less reliable due to the possibility that fantasy material might be generated, especially when the witness has a strong desire for ET contact and is knowledgeable about the subject, or the hypnotist asks leading questions. However, research has demonstrated that factual events can be recalled with greater clarity and emotional working through can transpire. It is especially useful in cases of dual amnesia by two witnesses that are hypnotized separately, such as in the Betty and Barney Hill (NH 1961) and Buff Ledge (VT 1968) abduction experiences. It is also considered valid when an individual gives descriptive details that have not been disclosed to the public.

With regard to nuts and bolts evidence collection, Ted Phillips has collected samples in more than 5000 physical trace cases from more than 80 countries. Numerous UFO photos have undergone photo analysis by multiple experts who rendered the opinion that they were not a mock-up or a hoax. Hardware that could not have been manufactured on Earth has been recovered and undergone analysis. Some implants that have been surgically removed from experiencers have highly unusual properties. In addition to this, investigators have recorded high radiation and magnetic field readings, in contrast to the natural environment in areas where UFOs have landed or been in close proximity to witnesses. There are more than 3500 sighting reports by military and commercial pilots and numerous radar-visual reports of UFOs.

There are also credible multiple witness reports of abductions aboard structured craft (E.g. Hill, Walton, Allagash, Casey Co, KY, Buff Ledge, VT, etc). Evidence collection is a slow process and has not produced a level of scientific proof that has convinced mainstream science that UFOs and abductions are real. But it has certainly contributed to the accumulation of anomalous scientific evidence.

The late Carl Sagan, an American astrophysicist stated, “Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.” Certainly they do, but acceptable evidence must be within scientific reach. From my experience, mainstream scientists have raised the bar by demanding one and only one piece of evidence that is compelling enough to prove UFOs are real. I suspect it is a clever manipulation of the requirement order to dispense with the problem. With regard to UFO investigation, it is the preponderance of evidence that is most significant. We have not acquired one, and only one, artifact that has satisfied the demands of mainstream science. However, we have collected compelling evidence that UFOs and otherworldly contact is real. The problem is that mainstream science considers the examination of the evidence unacceptable for political reasons. In general, mainstream scientists take a dismissive attitude toward this scientific mystery.

I have written that some of the high strangeness aspects of the ET contact phenomenon cannot be investigated or understood by our current Western scientific paradigms. We must move beyond nuts and bolts science to understand certain aspects of the ET contact experience. This is not a popular attitude among UFO researchers who strive for scientific respectability. Historically, there has been an uncomfortable relationship between the high strangeness aspects of UFO/ET behavior and the scientific investigation of UFO related phenomena. I am an advocate of scientific inquiry without prejudice, acknowledging that some aspects of the UFO experience are quantifiable and can be studied using our current scientific paradigms. However, perplexing high strangeness phenomena have been reported by too many UFO contact experiencers to be ignored. In my opinion, it is dishonest to assign psychological explanations, such as perceptual aberrations or fantasy proneness to these phenomena. In cases such as this, where the materialist paradigm would assign a psychological explanation for these events, we must seek new explanations based upon the evidence. However, both are required if we are ever to understand and explain these perplexing events.

Based upon my studies, it seems possible that a “non-physical or extra-dimensional realm” might coexist near our physical 3-D reality in accordance with the paranormal/quantum hologram theory. Like bubbles drifting together and apart, in a bathtub, inter-dimensional non-human intelligences existing in a dimension not usually visible to us, might drift in and out of our 3-D reality. Although I have only recently begun to investigate this type of paranormal activity, I’ve spoken with a few highly respected paranormal investigators who’ve acquired credible evidence that there appears to be a spirit world in a dimension near us, but not in our 3-D reality. Eye witness accounts indicate that they appear to be as shocked to see us as we are to see them. Most accounts of spirit and possible intradimensional or transdimensional ET activity that I'm aware of, describe translucent apparitions that pass through walls and disappear into thin air. Yet, some appear to have substance momentarily.

One physical evidence case that I’m investigating is perplexing, because the experiencer has observed light orbs darting through his bedroom and has videotaped them. Additionally, something that has weight gives the sensation that it is walking on the witness’s bed. Quite amazing! One has to ask the difficult questions in a case like this and look beyond psychological explanations. As it turns out, a large percentage of experiencers have reported similar events. Some, but definitely not all reports of suspected ET contact have the characteristics of spirit/interdimensional activity. However, whether or not our otherworldly visitors are described as solid or translucent, their presence sometimes generates psi activity in the experiencers’ homes. 88% of the experiencers who participated in the “Marden-Stoner Commonalities among UFO Abduction Experiencers Study”reported that they had witnessed paranormal activity in their homes, including light orbs that dart or float through the air. Sometimes the orbs pop like a bubble into 1-3 non-human entities. Many reported poltergeist activity such as household items flying through the air, pictures flying off walls, lights turning off and on, windows opening and closing, doors opening and closing and toilets flushing on their own. It is significant that 51% of the psi experience participants reported that their paranormal activity began after their first abduction experience. Many commented that this activity is not ongoing, but occurs immediately prior to or after a contact experience. Denise Stoner and I have measured high electrical field readings (500 to 1000 VPM) on 5 experiencers within days of a contact experience that were not measurable in the ambient environment or on the bodies of control subjects on a TriField Natural EM Meter. We wonder if this is related to the psi phenomena that is occurring in their homes. This is a very small sample and much more research is required before one can draw conclusions, but it is nevertheless interesting.

We also know that many modern experiencers recall being transported through solid surfaces. It seems to be the preferred method of experiencer procurement today. The question that should be asked, in my opinion, is are 3-D ETs in 3-D craft using advanced technology to accomplish what looks like magic or spirit activity? Or are all ETs and craft merely holographic images or interdimensional entities? Keep in mind that in some cases, unconventional craft are observed by witnesses outside the experiencer’s home. Experiencers have described the touch of a non-human entity’s hand and the physicality of their time in an otherworldly environment. I’ve interviewed one experiencer who claims to have sustained a fractured cervical vertebra when the ET’s technological device failed before his body had completely passed through his ceiling, causing his head to become lodged. His injuries required emergency surgery and his ceiling was damaged. (I have his medical record.) The device, he stated, was then deployed and he was successfully removed from his home.

In other cases, an experiencer is reported missing from his or her physical environment and being sought after, such as in the Travis Walton case. Experiencers often present unusual patterned bruises, finger shaped imprints, and partial sunburns (without exposure to the sun), as evidence. But sometimes the events reported by experiencers produce little of no evidence. They appear to be similar to an out of body experience or a lucid dream. In fact, several experiencers have used these terms when they described their events to me.

In the hundreds of contact experiences that I’m aware of, I have identified lines of demarcation between abductions and contactee experiences that seem to correlate with the physicality or non-physicality of the experience. Some non-human creatures reportedly materialize in the witness’s home, in the absence of even one UFO sighting. Other experiencers have had close encounters with UFOs and suspect that technology is employed to open an intra-dimensional portal into the witness’s home.

I am in the process of collecting quantitative data on the percentage of experiencers who have experienced NDEs. FREE's Experiencer Questionnaire discovered that nearly half of all experiencers have had NDEs. Some researchers believe that NDE and alien abduction phenomena are one in the same. I disagree. However, the residual effects such as psi phenomena overlap. Also, both groups acquired similar attitude changes. My supposition is that human consciousness might separate from the physical body when its energized particles permeate a solid surface and are then reconstructed into a physical form. (See my book, with Denise Stoner, The Alien Abduction Files, Ch. 11 for my discussion of this topic.)

Historically, the zeitgeist of the old guard has protected its special status, its political institutions, and acceptable procedures. In the past UFO researchers who explored the more perplexing aspects of contact phenomena have been accused of being unscientific, because they acknowledged the high strangeness aspects of UFO and ET contact. In my opinion, it is essential to scientific discovery to investigate compelling scientific evidence no matter where it may lead and unscientific to ignore inconvenient evidence.Science Was Wrong, my book with coauthor Stanton T. Friedman,presents case after case of proclamations of impossibility made by powerful mainstream scientists who were wrong. The history of science and technology is rife with authoritative claims by reputable scientists that have impeded progress. Their nearly theistic belief in “science” was marked by cynicism and the manipulation of data to fit their personal beliefs. They worked to suppress viable scientific discoveries and ruthlessly debunked the scientists who made them. Sometimes there were social consequences. Scientific discoveries are made by doing things differently in an unpredictable way. It is not an extrapolation of the past. Scientific progress is never easy.But in my opinion, we can only understand UFO and non-human intelligence contact phenomena when we combine currently accepted scientific paradigms with new paradigms founded in theoretical physics.